diff --git a/syncoid b/syncoid
index 50788e7..df1fc11 100755
--- a/syncoid
+++ b/syncoid
@@ -30,11 +30,21 @@ my %compressargs = %{compressargset($args{'compress'} || 'default')}; # Can't be
 my @sendoptions = ();
 if (length $args{'sendoptions'}) {
 	@sendoptions = parsespecialoptions($args{'sendoptions'});
+	if (! defined($sendoptions[0])) {
+		warn "invalid send options!";
+		pod2usage(2);
+		exit 127;
+	}
 }
 
 my @recvoptions = ();
 if (length $args{'recvoptions'}) {
 	@recvoptions = parsespecialoptions($args{'recvoptions'});
+	if (! defined($recvoptions[0])) {
+		warn "invalid receive options!";
+		pod2usage(2);
+		exit 127;
+	}
 }